Immigration advocates are speaking out on expected immigration changes in Quebec after Premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s win in Monday’s election.
Throughout the course of a 39-day election campaign, St-Pierre Plamondon linked what he called “uncontrolled immigration” to problems such as the province’s housing crisis, a decline in the French language, a struggling education system and a strain on public services.
But some advocates say it’s dangerous to pinpoint immigration as the sole contributor.
“Immigrants have become the scapegoats of everywhere in the world,” said Carlos Rojas, the director of the Conseil Migrant, a Montreal-based organization that helps support temporary residents and immigrants.
“But the reality is, immigrants are a very crucial part of our economy. We cannot continue doing the mistakes that other countries, as our neighbours in the south, is doing.”
Rojas said the province of Quebec needs immigrants to build and take care of a growing elderly population.
“A good leader and a statesman has to unite the population,” Rojas said.
St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois (PQ) pledged to reduce the number of permanent immigrants admitted to the province. He said his government would admit 35,000 new permanent immigrants each year, a decrease of about 10,000 people. The outgoing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government had planned to admit about 45,000 permanent immigrants in 2026, based on its immigration levels plan.
The PQ also plans to lower temporary immigration, setting a target of about 250,000 to 300,000 non-permanent residents by the end of its four-year term. That’s compared to the previous admission of about 84,900 to 124,200 temporary residents set for just 2026 by the outgoing CAQ.
To set these immigration thresholds, the minority PQ government will need the support of at least one other opposition party.
“The most logical dance partner, in terms of immigration policy, is the Conservative Party of Quebec,” Daniel Béland said, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.
“But I do think the PQ will move towards immigration policies that are, in a way, more conservative than the ones of the CAQ.”
Quebec controls most of its own immigration quotas, per the Canada-Quebec Accord. The province has the right to select economic immigrants and resettled refugees, and in return, receives financial compensation from the federal government for providing resettlement and integration services.
Beland said the PQ could want more power on immigration policies, beyond what the 35-year-old accord outlines.
“(Quebec) is the most autonomous province in terms of immigration policy in Canada, and the system has financial advantages for the province,” he said.
“They might not be able to get a better deal from the federal government. And also, Mark Carney right now is more popular than Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. If he wants to pick a fight over immigration or anything else with the federal government, it has to be done in a way that it doesn’t just look like he wants to pick fights to show that ‘federalism doesn’t work.’”
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